Unstable

Chapter 3

hi :) writing this story casually with no set date but if you're reading it and enjoying it please give it a vote :) thank you so much and please let me know if I made any spelling or grammar mistakes :)

Lalen woke up late in the afternoon to two young children yelling and running around the house.
He picked himself heavily up off his bed, still in his jeans and an old shirt. He stumbled out of his room and walked clumsily down the wide staircase to the downstairs floor.
"Lalen!" A young boy with wildly curly dark hair and huge, beautifully green eyes ran up to him.
"Eli! Hey!" He picked the boy up in his arms and hugged him tight.
"How was school, buddy?" He put the boy back down on the floor and a huge, warm smile was plastered across the 6 year olds face.
"Good! I painted a picture!" He beamed and jumped up and down.
"That's awesome! Where's Zara?" He ruffled Eli's hair and looked around for his 8 year old sister.
"She's in the bathroom. Where's Kahlae?" The boy looked up at him with hopeful eyes and it killed him knowing what he was going to have to say.
"He's upstairs. He's not feeling too good. Neither is Drew." He smiled kindly and his younger brother and his face turned sad. Eli adored Kahlae. He always wanted to spend every second with him. Kahlae was always either full of energy and so much fun to be around and made him giggle or he was crazy and psychotic and scared Eli so much he stayed away. But he'd never been depressed before and Lalen didn't want Eli to see him like that. Or Drew. Eli didn't like Drew very much. He found him mean and selfish and Drew would often tease him and bully him and then have crazy panic attacks and breakdowns, never as bad as the one earlier that day but scary enough for the little boy to want to stay away.
"I'll go see him." He dashed off up the stairs before Lalen could stop him. Lalen sprinted after him, panicked and sick with worry.
"Kahlae!" Eli yelled with excitement and jumped on his older brother.
"Eli! No!" He was not gonna do this again, not with another twin.
Suddenly, but not surprisingly, Kahlae began to scream.
"Eli! Get off him!" He pulled Eli off of Kahlae but he continued to scream, impossibly, louder than Drew had been screaming at school.
"Not this again! MUM! KAHLAE! OH MY GOD! SHUT UP!"
He pulled the covers back from his brothers face and his face was bright red, like he was terribly sunburnt. He had veins popping out of his head and his eyes were wild with fear.
"Why are you screaming? Stop it!" He shook his brother but he continued to scream, words now.
"THEY'RE COMING FOR ME! THEY CAN HEAR ME! THEY CAN SEE ME! WE MUST HIDE! NOW! THEY'RE GONNA FIND US! GET DOWN AND STAY QUIET! THEY CAN HEAR AND SEE EVERYTHING!" He screamed at Lalen and grabbed his face with his shaking, hot hands.
"Who? There's nobody coming for you, Kahlae! Stop! Eli, go downstairs, okay? Tell Zara to stay away too. Go!" He yelled at his brother who was stood there, frozen with shock and fear. He didn't hesitate to run away from the situation.
"NO! THEY WANT ME! THEY WANT TO TAKE ME AWAY! THEY'RE WATCHING ALL THE TIME!" He screamed and tried to jump under the covers again but Lalen stopped him.
"You're going to a hospital. Right now. Come on, let's go." His brother responded with a screech and struggled to get away but Lalen pulled him close and put his hands behind his back, holding them there. He grabbed a shirt that was laid on the end of Kahlae's bed and used it to tie his arms together.
"NO! YOU CAN'T TAKE ME!" He yelled at the top of his voice and tried his best to be free of the shirt tied around his hands but no matter how hard he tried, Lalen had tied it the tightest he could and Kahlae could not escape.
"Oh yes I can, and I will." He picked the screaming boy up and threw him over his shoulder. He kicked and struggled but Lalen was too strong. He carried his screaming brother down the stairs and found his mum in the kitchen, worry and panic on her face.
"Go and get Drew. Just carry him he's not awake. Then meet me at the car. These kids are going to hospital, they're sick. Go!"
He yelled at her and she jumped into action, bolting up the stairs to go get the passed out boy on the couch.
"Eli, Zara, and get in the car, here's the keys." He grabbed the car keys from beside the door and threw them gently into Eli's hands and they ran outside quickly. Lalen quickly grabbed the house keys and locked up the back doors just as his mother came downstairs with a still passed out Drew. Lalen could feel tears from Kahlae on his back as he bawled his eyes out and continued screaming.
He nodded to his mum who held Drew carefully in his arms and they walked out to the car after he locked the front door. Eli and Zara were already sat in car patiently and looking frightened.
Lalen opened the car door where Eli was sat and thought for a second.
"Zara. Go into the front. Eli, move over to that side, I'm gonna be in here with Kahlae and Drew can just lay on the floor."
So that's what they did. Eli scooted over to the other side of the car and Zara got out and moved into the front. Lalen got in the car with Kahlae and moved to the middle, pinning Kahlae up against the door, his face pressed against window and Lalen's mum laid Drew carefully at their feet. She started the car and drove off towards the hospital with Kahlae still screaming and crying in the back, Lalen holding onto him with all his strength, in disbelief this was happening all over again but with the other twin.
When they arrived at the hospital, Kahlae began to scream louder, which kind of made Lalen glad because that would mean they would admit him straight away. He threw Kahlae over his shoulder and held him tightly. He carried the screaming boy into the hospital and everyone in there when they entered turned and looked shocked. Kahlae, seeing the people look at him began to screech at the top of his voice, making everyone pull a painful face. One of the nurses rushed over to them.
"What's wrong with him?" She yelled over his screaming and looked shocked.
"I don't know! He's got some serious mental disorder and needs help! Right now!" He yelled back at her and she nodded, putting a hand out to indicate him to follow her.
"Who's the boy she's carrying?" The nurse asked Lalen about Drew and he turned around and saw his mother there, holding Drew fearfully in her arms with Eli and Zara stood close behind her, purely terrified.
"That's his twin brother, Drew. The exact same thing happened to him this morning at school. We had to put a needle in him and he's been passed out ever since. Except he's scared, Drew was more angry and panicked, and he was pastel white whereas this guy is bright red." He said to the nurse and she looked at him and didn't say anything, instead, she turned to another nurse who was running up to them.
"Take him to another room, he's just as bad." She said to her about Drew. The nurse nodded in response and took Drew in her arms to a room to be admitted. Lalen followed her to a room for Kahlae and laid him down on a bed. He screamed and screamed and screamed, struggling against the shirt tied around his wrists and kicked his feet aggressively all over the place. Lalen cautiously untied his hands and he immediately tried to jump and reach out to grab the nurse, but Lalen managed to catch him and hold him down. The nurse, stunned, then took his feet and tied them down with the straps on the hospital bed and Lalen did the same with his arms.
The nurse ran to the side of the room where the cupboards were and took out a huge needle. Kahlae laid his terrified eyes on the needle and screamed louder.
"NOOOOO! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!" He screamed at them and nurse looked at Lalen with wide eyes then plunged the needle into Kahlae's bicep and he continued to scream for a minute or so, just like Drew had, until he fell back, no longer resisting the straps, and was knocked into a deep sleep.
"Jesus." That was all Lalen could say.
"We need to have a meeting. You and me, and your mother."
She turned to him with concern on her face and he nodded.
"I'm afraid your brothers, well this one and if the other is anything like this one then definitely, are very much mentally ill and need immediate treatment and could possibly be placed in an out of town mental hospital depending on how things go. But the local psychiatric ward for 72 hours is our option at the moment, the one that isn't as big and daunting and for patients staying for a shorter time like your brothers would be, and we'll assess them there and make any diagnosis we need to and put them on lots of medication. They will not be aloud to be released from this hospital for 12 hours, then we will transfer them to the psych ward nearby. You can stay with them until they go into the ward as you have proved to be a very vital part of their recovery and good mental health from your help today. Everything ok? You get everything I just said?" She spoke slowly and carefully and finished with a kind smile.
"Yep. Got it. Thanks."
He looked at his brother, who looked almost dead, laid with his hands and legs strapped down on the hospital bed.
"He won't wake up for a few hours. When he does. Don't release him. We'll see how he's feeling first then decide things from there. For now, just relax and maybe go and check on Drew. I just overheard one of the nurses saying he's becoming more conscious and seems to be waking up." She gave him a reassuring pat on his shoulder and he nodded and took one more nervous glance at his insane brother before he walked out of the room towards Drew's just across the hallway.
He entered and Drew was wide awake and alert. He was sat up in his bed with his legs crossed. He looked completely content and relax.
"Hey, buddy. How you feelin'?" Lalen sat down at the end of the bed and he looked confused.
"Why am I here?" He asked with a puzzled look on his face and Lalen almost cried in relief that he wasn't going to try and tear at his cheeks with his now normal coloured hands.
"You're at the hospital. Kahlae had a major freak out and we took him in and after your freak out earlier today we decided it would be safer to admit you too." He was honest with his brother, not seeing the reason to hide anything from his as, if he freaked out again they would be able to control him.
"Freak out? When did I freak out?" He looked confused, but not worried.
"At school? You don't remember? You were screaming for a very long time. We had to put a needle in you. I don't know what set you off but you were so cold and pale and looked like you were in pain."
He reached out to put a hand on his brothers leg in comfort and Drew looked shocked.
"Wow. I thought that was a dream. I felt like I was floating above my body. That's probably why I was screaming, because I couldn't feel anything at all." Lalen felt that deep disturbance he felt when Drew had first starting getting anxious about him leaving him in the room at school.
"What set it off, Drew?" He asked his brother, intrigued and interested in what had started the sudden mental breakdown.
"I felt numb. I think it was you leaving. I wanted to stay with you because I usually have Kahlae and our twin connection but he wasn't there, but when you came I felt it with you because you're my brother, some kind of connection, a feeling of comfort and support, I hate the feeling of not having that. So I wanted you to stay. But you left and I felt numb suddenly. Then the teacher kept nagging me to drink water and I suddenly felt like I was floating because I was so angry. And then I started screaming to make it go away and to get myself back. That's why I was scratching my face and pulling my hair, because I couldn't feel anything and I wanted to feel again." He said it so calmly it made Lalen uneasy. But Lalen understood suddenly why he did what he did. But struggled to deeper understand why Drew had that feeling of floating and feeling numb. With anger? Was he scared? No. Drew didn't get scared. Was he sad? Definitely not. The more Lalen tried to understand and come up with possibilities, the more he realised how sociopathic his brother was.
"Well. I'm glad you're okay." He smiled wearily at his brother but he didn't smile back. He just looked empty. Like he was a robot, it scared Lalen so much he decided to leave the room.
"Lalen? Where are you going? When can I get out of here?" Drew called after him.
Lalen turned back around and saw his brother sat there with hopeful eyes and for once there was a kind, sweet expression on his face.
"12 hours. Then you're being taken to a psych ward for 72. Don't freak out, okay? I don't need that again today. Just relax, breathe, and get it over with so we can treat you as soon as possible, okay? And if you try and do anything to harm yourself or anyone else, or you try and get out of here, there are straps on the side of the bed and you'll be tied down like Kahlae is, got it?" He raised his eyebrows sternly at his brother and he nodded quickly, surprised by Lalen's sudden rude attitude. But Lalen didn't care. He was done with his brothers. Sick of taking care of them when they were at their worst. Sick of trying to understand what the hell is wrong with them. He walked outside and took a long, deep breath and ran his fingers through his light brown hair and shut his ocean blue eyes, wanting it to all be a crazy dream, waiting to wake up and for it all not to be real. He went and sat down in one of the chairs in the hospital waiting room and laid his head back against the wall and breathed out heavily, shutting his eyes and imagining a normal life without his mentally insane brothers and how easy it would be.